


Meles Meles

by ALongWayUp



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts Seventh Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:41:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALongWayUp/pseuds/ALongWayUp
Summary: Hannah Abbott had always known she would be a Hufflepuff. She was loyal and kind and loved her friends beyond anything. She'd always left boldness and bravery to the lions. But with a war brewing, her long-time crush leading a student rebellion rising and Carrows around every corner, maybe it's time to show the world you don't need to be a Gryffindor to be brave.
Relationships: Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Meles Meles

Platform 9 ¾ had always been one of Hannah's favourite places. The bustling crowd had always seemed to perfectly encapsulate all her favourite things about the magical world. The sense of wonder, excitement, the thrill of adventure of going off to school. It had always seemed to Hannah that those feelings had seeped into the foundations of the platform, marking it as a start point on the journey of all magic children.

There was a tension in the air, an underlying current of fear. The platform had once been filled with families lovingly seeing off new students. Now, solemn faced parents spoke quietly, some sending their children straight onto the train and fleeing, others lingered, seemingly at loathe to be parted, well wishes replaced with warnings.

Whatever beauty the station had once held was gone. There were no bright eyed muggleborns getting their first taste of the magical world. It felt wrong to be at the platform without so many of the familiar faces she had always looked for in the crowd. Poor, sweet Justin who had talked her ear off in the compartment they had shared on their first trip to Hogwarts, who had become one of her best friends, was missing. Last time she's d heard from him he'd been trying to make it out of Britain, but with the ministry screening all forms of communication, he hadn't wanted to share too much.

Hannah, for the first time, had come to the station alone. She wished her father had been able to join her, but he'd received rush order of a few hundred Dittany and a particularly volatile batch of Devil's Snare. Part of her wondered if he just couldn't face making the trip without his wife. She couldn't help but long for the time when things were simpler, when she'd first come to the platform with her parents. Her mother had preached about the adventures she'd surely have but her father had always understood Hannah better. He'd simply stroked his young daughter's blonde hair and said "Don't worry Hannah, you'll make plenty of friends, you've got a big heart. Just remember the greatest gift you can give someone is kindness."

As a child Hannah had been a little in awe of her mother. A Gryffindor through and through and proud muggleborn, Helen Abbott had been a vocal voice against blood purists like the Malfoys. Now she wondered if maybe her mother had been a little less brave if she'd be alive now. She shook off the troubling thought.

Rather than linger on the eerie platform, she dragged her trunk towards the train, determined to find Susan and Ernie and get a decent compartment. She looked into the compartments as she passed, wrestling with the wonky wheel she'd meant to replace. Finally, a few compartments from the end, she found Susan. Moving to open the compartment door, the wheel suddenly snagged then came loose, knocking into the back of her and sending her flying forwards into a warm hard wall. Gentle hands caught her arms and steadied her. With dawning horror, she looked up into the face of the one person she'd hoped to avoid.

"Neville!" she squeaked, cursing her fair complexion as she felt herself beginning to flush. "I'm so sorry! It's the wheel. On my trunk. Sorry. I meant to replace it but-"

She felt a pang of loss as his hands lifted off her and he reached up to scratch behind one of his ears, face pink. He laughed nervously.

"Uhm it's ok. Do you need some help?" he gestured to her trunk.

Her hands flailed nervously, and she could see Susan grinning inside the compartment.

"No!" she exclaimed abruptly. "Uh, I mean, it's okay. I've got it." She felt her face flushing deeper.

He opened his mouth to speak again but suddenly he went still and his gaze focused on something behind her. She turned to see Ginny Weasley coming up the aisle. His gaze flicked between the two girls then back to a man in black robes standing further down the aisle watching them.

"Hey Ginny. No Ron this year?" Neville asked his voice light, but his eyes intent.

"He's come down with a nasty case of Spattergoit." Hannah had always been a little intimidated by Ginny Weasley, but something in the red head's smile was sharp and shark-like as she too glanced at the dark figure.

Neville's answering grin was equally vicious and suddenly Hannah felt very out of place.

"Hi Ginny. I'm just going to..." she gestured hopelessly towards the compartment. "Uh, bye Ginny. Bye Neville."

Neville smiled and Ginny gave a friendly wave as she opened the compartment door and pulled her trunk along with a forceful tug. She closed the door and waited till she heard them move down the aisle before collapsing onto the seat facing Susan, burying her face in her hands.

"That went well."

"Shut up." She took a deep breath and looked up at Susan's amused face. She tried to remember why she'd been so anxious to see her friend.

"Well, it's good to know some things haven't changed. You still have the worst crush on Longbottom."

She was saved from replying as the compartment door opened again and Ernie stepped in. He looked at the two of them and stopped.

"What's going on?"

Susan grinned. "Hannah ran into Longbottom."

Ernie's eyes widened as he sat beside Susan. "Oh Merlin. How bad was it?"

"Bad. You should just ask him out Hannah, I'm sure he'd say yes."

"Can we please talk about something else!" Hannah cried, flinging her hands in the air.

Ernie's expression turned serious. "Did you notice the Death Eaters? Platform's crawling with them."

Hannah felt a chill down her spine. "Death Eaters?" she suddenly remembered the man in dark robes she'd seen in the aisle. "What are they doing here?"

"Looking for Potter and his friends I imagine." Ernie said.

"Good luck to them." Susan replied. "Even Potter's not stupid enough to show himself. If him or Granger show their faces they'll be sent straight to Azkaban. No, they'll be on the run with all the other muggleborns. And where Potter and Granger go, Weasley follows."

"Weasley's got Spattergoit" Hannah blurted. Ernie and Susan looked at her strangely and she blushed. "At least, that's what his sister said."

Susan looked thoughtful. "If Weasley's really got Spattergoit I'll marry Filch . I can't see the other two going off without him."

"Weasley's a pureblood." Ernie argued. "Hogwarts would be the safest place for him. Merlin, it's a school, the Death Eaters can't touch us there."

"Let's not think about it anymore." Susan pleaded. "Hannah, are you going to be in our classes this year?"

"I have to meet Professor Sprout tomorrow to do placement tests." Hannah replied. When her mother was killed last Christmas her father had, pulled her from school, so she had missed half the school year. Professor Sprout had agreed to let her do some tests to see if she needed to repeat all her classes or if she had learned enough to progress with the rest of her year.

They passed the rest of the journey with small talk, but Hannah couldn't shake the sense of wrongness. The absence of Justin weighed heavy on them, though none of them addressed it. She hoped Ernie was right about Hogwarts being safe for them, but something inside her whispered that all of this was just the beginning, and the future seemed uncertain for all of them.


End file.
